Rose
Rose, born Agatha Bloom, was the owner and Madame of the Ladyfingers brothel from 1996-2005. She came to Halluag in an attempt to distance herself from members of the Blacktooth Crime Syndicate, a powerful thieves guild in the capital city of Navithaal's Crest. In her youth, Agatha was a tavernmaid at The Horn's Bellow Arms in Navinthaal's Crest. There she met Ser Gavin Neft, a knight in the service of Duke Lystern. The two began a doomed romance, cut short by Heggal Sinner, lieutenant to Bogart Madson of the Blacktooth Crime Syndicate when Heggal decided that Agatha should be sharing her bed with him instead. Ser Gavin, visiting Agatha at The Horn's Bellow, discovered to his dismay Heggal attempting to rape Agatha in one of the inn's rented rooms. In his fervor to stop Heggal, Ser Gavin drew his sword and cleaved Heggal's hand off at the wrist. Days later Heggal's men caught up to Ser Gavin and murdered him in the street. Agatha was dismayed and sought the King's Justice for Heggal and his men. Bogart, however, had paid swords in the Navinthaal City Watch and her cries were left unheeded. It was long before Heggal decided to proceed with his unscrupulous advances. Agatha escaped Heggal's touch, however, packing her life away in a small bag and fleeing for the farthest reach of the kingdom. She began prostituting herself to fund her travels, a fact that left her feeling soiled and shamed: "Tonight I gave myself to a man I didn't know. I never heard his name, nor looked into his eyes. He approached me in the shelter and offered me five gold for, what he called 'a tumble'. I haven't eaten in days... Is this the life my brave knight's death has bought for me? I tumbled, screwed my eyes closed and waited for his ending. He treated my body like it was his labor, without a moment of care or romance. He dropped his coins on the bed and left without a word. I feel that the stink of him will never wash, and I would kill myself if not for the fear that I'll meet my love in the after and shame him with the sullied soul I would offer. I cannot imagine a Hell worse than my own skin. It is a filthy prison." -''Rose's Journal'' In spite of her early complaints, Agatha discovered that her skin would buy her travel all the way to the northermost tip of the kingdom. Her perspective gradually changed as she came to grips with her position: "I never prayed to the Gods for this life. Never in my youth of romantic dreams would I have thought that my bed would be open to 'he with the most coin'. My regrets are few. I read my past words and hear a voice untempered by the harsh world. Ser Gavin, you have my gratitude for your love, and my apologies for what I have done, but my heart remains true even if my body has not. In the ether that waits, I will be yours to take or leave, but I have done nothing less than I needed to in order to survive. Your death purchased me a chance, and I shall use what you have given me rather than waste away or become some thuggish oaf's rape puppet. I honor you with my resolve, if not with my fidelity. Love was only ever yours, and so it will be." -''Rose's Journal'' In Halluag, Agatha, now calling herself Rose after a tattoo she'd had inked across the crest of her right breast, fast found work plying her trade at the Ladyfingers. When the madame died in 1997, Rose purchased the business from the city and maintained a safe environment for the women in her employ. She did not, however, stay as true as her words to Ser Gavin, developing emotions for one of her regular clients, Gerard Jones. Their relationship was businesslike on the surface, Gerard enjoying the company of many of Rose's girls, but their feelings managed to transcend their physical beings. It would seem that love, once again, would be Agatha's downfall. Her journal's final entries speak in a fearful tone of dangers coming to the brothel and Gerard doing him best to protect her. Through a secret passage hidden in the kitchen of the Ladyfingers, Gerard took her to a place that she could be safe. She wrote of confusion, not knowing her location, and sounds coming through the walls. The journal was found by Elendil, inexplicably replaced in her room at the brothel. This, with the painting done of her by Aaron Gallo in her abandoned room showing her tattoo, identified the ghoul slain by the party of Elendil, Gale DeOrthea, Nathaniel Webb, and Dexter in Hobb Nelson's basement; a home previously owned by Gerard Jones. Her body was left in the tall grass to the east of Halluag by Nathaniel Webb to rot. Category:Characters